Dynamic aggression management of cellular connectivity

ABSTRACT

This disclosure relates to techniques for dynamic selection of connection attempt throttling algorithms based on user context. According to some embodiments, a wireless device may monitor certain current conditions of the UE, such as battery level, user activity level, motion level, and/or other conditions. Depending at least in part on the current conditions of the UE, cellular connection attempt parameters may be selected. In some conditions the cellular connection attempt parameters may be selected such as to allow more aggressive pursuit of cellular connectivity, while in other conditions the cellular connection attempt parameters may be selected such as to allow less aggressive pursuit of cellular connectivity.

PRIORITY

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/817,960 titled “Dynamic Aggression Management of CellularConnectivity” filed Nov. 20, 2017, whose inventors are SrinivasPasupuleti, Sriram Venkataramanan, and Someet K. Lal, which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/204,246 (now U.S.Pat. No. 9,854,510) titled “Dynamic Aggression Management of CellularConnectivity” filed Jul. 7, 2016, whose inventors are SrinivasPasupuleti, Sriram Venkataramanan, and Someet K. Lal, which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/724,873 (now U.S.Pat. No. 9,414,298) titled “Dynamic Aggression Management of CellularConnectivity” filed May 29, 2015, whose inventors are SrinivasPasupuleti, Sriram Venkataramanan, and Someet K. Lal, and which are allhereby incorporated by reference in their entirety as though fully andcompletely set forth herein.

The claims in the instant application are different than those of theparent application or other related applications. The Applicanttherefore rescinds any disclaimer of claim scope made in the parentapplication or any predecessor application in relation to the instantapplication. The Examiner is therefore advised that any such previousdisclaimer and the cited references that it was made to avoid, may needto be revisited. Further, any disclaimer made in the instant applicationshould not be read into or against the parent application or otherrelated applications.

FIELD

The present application relates to wireless devices, including toapparatuses, systems, and methods for a wireless device to dynamicallymodify how aggressively to attempt to obtain cellular connectivity underdifferent circumstances.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

Wireless communication systems are rapidly growing in usage. Further,wireless communication technology has evolved from voice-onlycommunications to also include the transmission of data, such asInternet and multimedia content. Some examples of wireless communicationstandards include GSM, UMTS (associated with, for example, WCDMA orTD-SCDMA air interfaces), LTE, LTE Advanced (LTE-A), HSPA, 3GPP2CDMA2000 (e.g., 1×RTT, 1×EV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), IEEE 802.11 (WLAN orWi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), Bluetooth, and others. The availability andquality of wireless service may be variable; it is possible that awireless device may on some occasions have difficulty obtaining serviceor lose service (e.g., be unable to detect and/or receive signals) fromtheir service provider.

Particularly for battery powered devices, power consumption is animportant consideration: users generally prefer devices which exhibitlonger battery life. However, it is common, even for battery poweredwireless devices, for the aggressiveness with which connectivity ispursued (e.g., in circumstances when service is unavailable or difficultto obtain) to be static, such that battery power levels or othervariable conditions are not considered. Accordingly, improvements in thefield would be desirable.

SUMMARY

Embodiments are presented herein of apparatuses, systems, and methodsfor wireless devices to dynamically modify how aggressively to attemptto obtain cellular connectivity under different circumstances.

According to the techniques described herein, a wireless device mayattempt to obtain cellular connectivity in certain circumstances, suchas in order to service a data request received from an application layerof the wireless device. At least some of the parameters used inconjunction with such attempts to connect to a cellular network maydiffer depending on certain conditions, potentially including batterylevel, user activity level, and/or other conditions. For example,certain parameters may be modified to be less aggressive in pursuingconnectivity when battery level and user activity level are both low,and more aggressive in pursuing connectivity when battery level and useractivity level are both high.

The parameters which may differ depending on the conditions may includeany of a variety of parameters, which may apply at various operatinglayers. Some possibilities of connectivity related parameters couldinclude a type of barring (cell/frequency) used if cell registrationfailure occurs, a threshold number of radio resource control (RRC)connection attempt failures to cause cell registration failure, athreshold number of cell registration failures to cause disabling of oneor more radio access technologies (RATs), a length of time for which oneor more RATs are disabled if such disabling is triggered, a thresholdnumber of cell registration failures to cause data request failure, athreshold number of data request servicing failures to cause throttlingof application data requests, a length of time for which applicationdata requests are throttled if such throttling is triggered, or any ofvarious other possible parameters.

The techniques described herein may be implemented in and/or used with anumber of different types of devices, including but not limited tocellular phones, tablet computers, wearable computing devices, portablemedia players, cellular network infrastructure equipment, servers, andany of various other computing devices.

This Summary is intended to provide a brief overview of some of thesubject matter described in this document. Accordingly, it will beappreciated that the above-described features are merely examples andshould not be construed to narrow the scope or spirit of the subjectmatter described herein in any way. Other features, aspects, andadvantages of the subject matter described herein will become apparentfrom the following Detailed Description, Figures, and Claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A better understanding of the present subject matter can be obtainedwhen the following detailed description of the embodiments is consideredin conjunction with the following drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary (and simplified) wireless communicationsystem;

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary base station (BS) in communication withan exemplary wireless user equipment (UE) device, according to someembodiments;

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a UE, according to someembodiments;

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a BS, according to someembodiments;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart diagram illustrating an exemplary method for a UEto dynamically select connection attempt aggressiveness, according tosome embodiments;

FIG. 6 is a signal flow diagram illustrating an exemplary RACHprocedure, according to some embodiments;

FIGS. 7-12 are flowchart diagrams illustrating example connectionattempt procedures, associated parameters, and parameter selectionalgorithms, according to some embodiments; and

FIGS. 13-14 are tables illustrating how barring individual cells andbarring cell frequencies can functionally differ in an exemplaryscenario, according to some embodiments.

While the features described herein may be susceptible to variousmodifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof areshown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described indetail. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detaileddescription thereto are not intended to be limiting to the particularform disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover allmodifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spiritand scope of the subject matter as defined by the appended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Acronyms

The following acronyms are used in the present disclosure:

UE: User Equipment

BS: Base Station

RAT: Radio Access Technology

3GPP: Third Generation Partnership Project

3GPP2: Third Generation Partnership Project 2

GSM: Global System for Mobile Communication

UMTS: Universal Mobile Telecommunication System

LTE: Long Term Evolution

RACH: Random Access Procedure

RNTI: Radio Network Temporary Identifier

RA-RNTI: Random Access RNTI

C-RNTI: Cell RNTI

TC-RNTI: Temporary Cell RNTI

TMSI: Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity

S-TMSI: System Architecture Evolution TMSI

Terms

The following is a glossary of terms used in the present disclosure:

Memory Medium—Any of various types of non-transitory memory devices orstorage devices. The term “memory medium” is intended to include aninstallation medium, e.g., a CD-ROM, floppy disks, or tape device; acomputer system memory or random access memory such as DRAM, DDR RAM,SRAM, EDO RAM, Rambus RAM, etc.; a non-volatile memory such as a Flash,magnetic media, e.g., a hard drive, or optical storage; registers, orother similar types of memory elements, etc. The memory medium mayinclude other types of non-transitory memory as well or combinationsthereof. In addition, the memory medium may be located in a firstcomputer system in which the programs are executed, or may be located ina second different computer system which connects to the first computersystem over a network, such as the Internet. In the latter instance, thesecond computer system may provide program instructions to the firstcomputer for execution. The term “memory medium” may include two or morememory mediums which may reside in different locations, e.g., indifferent computer systems that are connected over a network. The memorymedium may store program instructions (e.g., embodied as computerprograms) that may be executed by one or more processors.

Carrier Medium—a memory medium as described above, as well as a physicaltransmission medium, such as a bus, network, and/or other physicaltransmission medium that conveys signals such as electrical,electromagnetic, or digital signals.

Programmable Hardware Element—includes various hardware devicescomprising multiple programmable function blocks connected via aprogrammable interconnect. Examples include FPGAs (Field ProgrammableGate Arrays), PLDs (Programmable Logic Devices), FPOAs (FieldProgrammable Object Arrays), and CPLDs (Complex PLDs). The programmablefunction blocks may range from fine grained (combinatorial logic or lookup tables) to coarse grained (arithmetic logic units or processorcores). A programmable hardware element may also be referred to as“reconfigurable logic”.

Computer System—any of various types of computing or processing systems,including a personal computer system (PC), mainframe computer system,workstation, network appliance, Internet appliance, personal digitalassistant (PDA), television system, grid computing system, or otherdevice or combinations of devices. In general, the term “computersystem” can be broadly defined to encompass any device (or combinationof devices) having at least one processor that executes instructionsfrom a memory medium.

User Equipment (UE) (or “UE Device”)—any of various types of computersystems devices which are mobile or portable and which performs wirelesscommunications. Examples of UE devices include mobile telephones orsmart phones (e.g., iPhone™, Android™-based phones), portable gamingdevices (e.g., Nintendo DS™, PlayStation Portable™, Gameboy Advance™,iPhone™), wearable devices (e.g., smart watch, smart glasses), laptops,PDAs, portable Internet devices, music players, data storage devices, orother handheld devices, etc. In general, the term “UE” or “UE device”can be broadly defined to encompass any electronic, computing, and/ortelecommunications device (or combination of devices) which is easilytransported by a user and capable of wireless communication.

Base Station—The term “Base Station” has the full breadth of itsordinary meaning, and at least includes a wireless communication stationinstalled at a fixed location and used to communicate as part of awireless telephone system or radio system.

Cell—The term “cell” as used herein may refer to an area in whichwireless communication services are provided on a radio frequency by acell site or base station. A cell may be identified in various instancesby the frequency on which the cell is deployed, by a network (e.g.,PLMN) to which the cell belongs, and/or a cell identifier (cell id),among various possibilities.

Processing Element—refers to various elements or combinations ofelements. Processing elements include, for example, circuits such as anASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), portions or circuits ofindividual processor cores, entire processor cores, individualprocessors, programmable hardware devices such as a field programmablegate array (FPGA), and/or larger portions of systems that includemultiple processors.

Channel—a medium used to convey information from a sender (transmitter)to a receiver. It should be noted that since characteristics of the term“channel” may differ according to different wireless protocols, the term“channel” as used herein may be considered as being used in a mannerthat is consistent with the standard of the type of device withreference to which the term is used. In some standards, channel widthsmay be variable (e.g., depending on device capability, band conditions,etc.). For example, LTE may support scalable channel bandwidths from 1.4MHz to 20 MHz. In contrast, WLAN channels may be 22 MHz wide whileBluetooth channels may be 1 Mhz wide. Other protocols and standards mayinclude different definitions of channels. Furthermore, some standardsmay define and use multiple types of channels, e.g., different channelsfor uplink or downlink and/or different channels for different uses suchas data, control information, etc.

Band—The term “band” has the full breadth of its ordinary meaning, andat least includes a section of spectrum (e.g., radio frequency spectrum)in which channels are used or set aside for the same purpose.

Automatically—refers to an action or operation performed by a computersystem (e.g., software executed by the computer system) or device (e.g.,circuitry, programmable hardware elements, ASICs, etc.), without userinput directly specifying or performing the action or operation. Thusthe term “automatically” is in contrast to an operation being manuallyperformed or specified by the user, where the user provides input todirectly perform the operation. An automatic procedure may be initiatedby input provided by the user, but the subsequent actions that areperformed “automatically” are not specified by the user, i.e., are notperformed “manually”, where the user specifies each action to perform.For example, a user filling out an electronic form by selecting eachfield and providing input specifying information (e.g., by typinginformation, selecting check boxes, radio selections, etc.) is fillingout the form manually, even though the computer system must update theform in response to the user actions. The form may be automaticallyfilled out by the computer system where the computer system (e.g.,software executing on the computer system) analyzes the fields of theform and fills in the form without any user input specifying the answersto the fields. As indicated above, the user may invoke the automaticfilling of the form, but is not involved in the actual filling of theform (e.g., the user is not manually specifying answers to fields butrather they are being automatically completed). The presentspecification provides various examples of operations beingautomatically performed in response to actions the user has taken.

FIGS. 1 and 2—Communication System

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary (and simplified) wireless communicationsystem, according to some embodiments. It is noted that the system ofFIG. 1 is merely one example of a possible system, and embodiments ofthe disclosure may be implemented in any of various systems, as desired.

As shown, the exemplary wireless communication system includes a basestation 102 which communicates over a transmission medium with one ormore user devices 106A, 106B, etc., through 106N. Each of the userdevices may be referred to herein as a “user equipment” (UE). Thus, theuser devices 106 are referred to as UEs or UE devices.

The base station 102 may be a base transceiver station (BTS) or cellsite, and may include hardware that enables wireless communication withthe UEs 106A through 106N. If the base station 102 is implemented in thecontext of LTE, it may alternately be referred to as an ‘eNodeB’. Thebase station 102 may also be equipped to communicate with a network 100(e.g., a core network of a cellular service provider, atelecommunication network such as a public switched telephone network(PSTN), and/or the Internet, among various possibilities). Thus, thebase station 102 may facilitate communication between the user devicesand/or between the user devices and the network 100.

The communication area (or coverage area) of the base station may bereferred to as a “cell.” The base station 102 and the UEs 106 may beconfigured to communicate over the transmission medium using any ofvarious radio access technologies (RATs), wireless communicationtechnologies, or telecommunication standards, such as GSM, UMTS (WCDMA,TD-SCDMA), LTE, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1×RTT,1×EV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), Wi-Fi, WiMAX etc.

Base station 102 and other similar base stations operating according tothe same or a different cellular communication standard may thus beprovided as a network of cells, which may provide continuous or nearlycontinuous overlapping service to UEs 106A-N and similar devices over awide geographic area via one or more cellular communication standards.

Thus, while base station 102 may act as a “serving cell” for UEs 106A-Nas illustrated in FIG. 1, each UE 106 may also be capable of receivingsignals from (and possibly within communication range of) one or moreother cells (which might be provided by other base stations), which maybe referred to as “neighboring cells”. Such cells may also be capable offacilitating communication between user devices and/or between userdevices and the network 100. Such cells may include “macro” cells,“micro” cells, “pico” cells, and/or cells which provide any of variousother granularities of service area size. Other configurations are alsopossible.

Note that a UE 106 may be capable of communicating using multiplewireless communication standards. For example, a UE 106 might beconfigured to communicate using two or more of GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000,WiMAX, LTE, LTE-A, WLAN, Bluetooth, one or more global navigationalsatellite systems (GNSS, e.g., GPS or GLONASS), one and/or more mobiletelevision broadcasting standards (e.g., ATSC-M/H or DVB-H), etc. Othercombinations of wireless communication standards (including more thantwo wireless communication standards) are also possible.

FIG. 2 illustrates user equipment 106 (e.g., one of the devices 106Athrough 106N) in communication with a base station 102, according tosome embodiments. The UE 106 may be a device with cellular communicationcapability such as a mobile phone, a hand-held device, a wearabledevice, a computer or a tablet, or virtually any type of wirelessdevice.

The UE 106 may include a processor that is configured to execute programinstructions stored in memory. The UE 106 may perform any of the methodembodiments described herein by executing such stored instructions.Alternatively, or in addition, the UE 106 may include a programmablehardware element such as an FPGA (field-programmable gate array) that isconfigured to perform any of the method embodiments described herein, orany portion of any of the method embodiments described herein.

In some embodiments, the UE 106 may be configured to communicate usingany of multiple RATs. For example, the UE 106 may be configured tocommunicate using two or more of GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000, LTE, LTE-A, WLAN,or GNSS. Other combinations of wireless communication technologies arealso possible.

The UE 106 may include one or more antennas for communicating using oneor more wireless communication protocols or technologies. In oneembodiment, the UE 106 might be configured to communicate using eitherof CDMA2000 (1×RTT/1×EV-DO/HRPD/eHRPD) or LTE using a single sharedradio and/or GSM or LTE using the single shared radio. The shared radiomay couple to a single antenna, or may couple to multiple antennas(e.g., for MIMO) for performing wireless communications. In general, aradio may include any combination of a baseband processor, analog RFsignal processing circuitry (e.g., including filters, mixers,oscillators, amplifiers, etc.), or digital processing circuitry (e.g.,for digital modulation as well as other digital processing). Similarly,the radio may implement one or more receive and transmit chains usingthe aforementioned hardware. For example, the UE 106 may share one ormore parts of a receive and/or transmit chain between multiple wirelesscommunication technologies, such as those discussed above.

In some embodiments, the UE 106 may include separate transmit and/orreceive chains (e.g., including separate antennas and other radiocomponents) for each wireless communication protocol with which it isconfigured to communicate. As a further possibility, the UE 106 mayinclude one or more radios which are shared between multiple wirelesscommunication protocols, and one or more radios which are usedexclusively by a single wireless communication protocol. For example,the UE 106 might include a shared radio for communicating using eitherof LTE or 1×RTT (or LTE or GSM), and separate radios for communicatingusing each of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Other configurations are alsopossible.

FIG. 3—Exemplary Block Diagram of a UE

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a UE 106, according tosome embodiments. As shown, the UE 106 may include a system on chip(SOC) 300, which may include portions for various purposes. For example,as shown, the SOC 300 may include processor(s) 302 which may executeprogram instructions for the UE 106 and display circuitry 304 which mayperform graphics processing and provide display signals to the display360. The SOC 300 may also include motion sensing circuitry 370 which maydetect motion of the UE 106, for example using a gyroscope,accelerometer, and/or any of various other motion sensing components.The processor(s) 302 may also be coupled to memory management unit (MMU)340, which may be configured to receive addresses from the processor(s)302 and translate those addresses to locations in memory (e.g., memory306, read only memory (ROM) 350, NAND flash memory 310) and/or to othercircuits or devices, such as the display circuitry 304, wirelesscommunication circuitry 330, connector I/F 320, and/or display 360. TheMMU 340 may be configured to perform memory protection and page tabletranslation or set up. In some embodiments, the MMU 340 may be includedas a portion of the processor(s) 302.

As shown, the SOC 300 may be coupled to various other circuits of the UE106. For example, the UE 106 may include various types of memory (e.g.,including NAND flash 310), a connector interface 320 (e.g., for couplingto a computer system, dock, charging station, etc.), the display 360,and wireless communication circuitry (e.g., radio) 330 (e.g., for LTE,Wi-Fi, GPS, etc.).

As noted above, the UE 106 may be configured to communicate wirelesslyusing multiple wireless communication technologies. As further notedabove, in such instances, the wireless communication circuitry 330 mayinclude radio components which are shared between multiple wirelesscommunication technologies and/or radio components which are configuredexclusively for use according to a single wireless communicationtechnology. As shown, the UE device 106 may include at least one antenna(and possibly multiple antennas, e.g., for MIMO and/or for implementingdifferent wireless communication technologies, among variouspossibilities), for performing wireless communication with cellular basestations and/or other devices. For example, the UE device 106 may useantenna(s) 335 to perform the wireless communication.

As described further subsequently herein, the UE 106 may includehardware and software components for implementing features fordynamically modifying connection attempt aggressiveness, such as thosedescribed herein with reference to, inter alia, FIG. 5. The processor302 of the UE device 106 may be configured to implement part or all ofthe methods described herein, e.g., by executing program instructionsstored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readablememory medium). In other embodiments, processor 302 may be configured asa programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (Field ProgrammableGate Array), or as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit).Alternatively (or in addition) the processor 302 of the UE device 106,in conjunction with one or more of the other components 300, 304, 306,310, 320, 330, 335, 340, 350, 360 may be configured to implement part orall of the features described herein, such as the features describedherein with reference to, inter alia, FIG. 5.

FIG. 4—Exemplary Block Diagram of a Base Station

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a base station 102. Itis noted that the base station of FIG. 4 is merely one example of apossible base station. As shown, the base station 102 may includeprocessor(s) 404 which may execute program instructions for the basestation 102. The processor(s) 404 may also be coupled to memorymanagement unit (MMU) 440, which may be configured to receive addressesfrom the processor(s) 404 and translate those addresses to locations inmemory (e.g., memory 460 and read only memory (ROM) 450) or to othercircuits or devices.

The base station 102 may include at least one network port 470. Thenetwork port 470 may be configured to couple to a telephone network andprovide a plurality of devices, such as UE devices 106, access to thetelephone network as described above in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The network port 470 (or an additional network port) may also oralternatively be configured to couple to a cellular network, e.g., acore network of a cellular service provider. The core network mayprovide mobility related services and/or other services to a pluralityof devices, such as UE devices 106. In some cases, the network port 470may couple to a telephone network via the core network, and/or the corenetwork may provide a telephone network (e.g., among other UE devicesserviced by the cellular service provider).

The base station 102 may include at least one antenna 434, and possiblymultiple antennas. The antenna(s) 434 may be configured to operate as awireless transceiver and may be further configured to communicate withUE devices 106 via radio 430. The antenna(s) 434 communicates with theradio 430 via communication chain 432. Communication chain 432 may be areceive chain, a transmit chain or both. The radio 430 may be configuredto communicate via various wireless telecommunication standards,including, but not limited to, LTE, LTE-A, UMTS, CDMA2000, Wi-Fi, etc.

The BS 102 may be configured to communicate wirelessly using multiplewireless communication standards. In some instances, the base station102 may include multiple radios, which may enable the base station 102to communicate according to multiple wireless communicationtechnologies. For example, as one possibility, the base station 102 mayinclude an LTE radio for performing communication according to LTE aswell as a Wi-Fi radio for performing communication according to Wi-Fi.In such a case, the base station 102 may be capable of operating as bothan LTE base station and a Wi-Fi access point. As another possibility,the base station 102 may include a multi-mode radio which is capable ofperforming communications according to any of multiple wirelesscommunication technologies (e.g., LTE and Wi-Fi, LTE and UMTS, LTE andCDMA2000, UMTS and GSM, etc.).

As described further subsequently herein, the BS 102 may includehardware and software components for implementing or supportingimplementation of features described herein. The processor 404 of thebase station 102 may be configured to implement or supportimplementation of part or all of the methods described herein, e.g., byexecuting program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., anon-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively, theprocessor 404 may be configured as a programmable hardware element, suchas an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or as an ASIC (ApplicationSpecific Integrated Circuit), or a combination thereof. Alternatively(or in addition) the processor 404 of the BS 102, in conjunction withone or more of the other components 430, 432, 434, 440, 450, 460, 470may be configured to implement or support implementation of part or allof the features described herein.

FIG. 5—Flowchart

FIG. 5 is a flowchart diagram illustrating a method for a wirelessdevice (e.g., a wireless user equipment (UE) device such as illustratedand described with respect to FIGS. 1-3) to dynamically modify theaggressiveness with which a cellular connection is pursued in differentconditions. The method shown in FIG. 5 may be used in conjunction withany of the computer systems or devices shown in the above Figures, amongother devices. In various embodiments, some of the method elements shownmay be performed concurrently, in a different order than shown, or maybe omitted. Additional method elements may also be performed as desired.As shown, this method may operate as follows.

In 502, a data request may be received. The data request may be anapplication layer data request, which may be received by a basebandlayer of the UE device. For example, the data request may be a requestfrom an application to communicate data by way of a cellular networkinterface of the wireless device on behalf of the application. The datarequest may be for background data or foreground data. The applicationmay be an application of any of various possible application types, suchas a web browser application, an email application, a productivityapplication, a gaming application, an e-commerce application, and/or anyof various other possible application types.

In 504, current UE conditions may be determined. The UE conditions mayrelate to any of various possible aspects of UE operation. One possibleUE condition may relate to a battery level of the UE device. Forexample, any number of different battery levels, e.g., corresponding todifferent battery level thresholds, may be defined, and a currentbattery level or state of the UE device may be one possible condition ofthe UE device that is determined.

Another possible condition may include a user activity level of the UEdevice. One or more user activity indicators may be monitored todetermine the user activity level of the UE device. For example, adisplay status may be an indicator of user activity: if the display ison, this may be an indication of a higher user activity level (e.g., oneor more foreground apps may be running), while if the display is off (oron because of a notification rather than user activity), this may be anindication of a lower user activity level. Thus, according to thisexample, if the display status of the UE is off, it may be determinedthat the UE device has a low user activity level, while if the displaystatus of the UE is on, it may be determined that the UE device has ahigh user activity level. Note that any number of user activity levelsor states may be defined, and that any number of user activityindicators may be used additionally or alternatively to the displaystatus of the UE to determine the user activity level of the UE,according to various embodiments.

A still further condition may include a motion level of the UE device.The motion level of the UE 106 may be either ‘stationary’ or‘non-stationary’, as two possibilities. For example, if motion above amotion threshold is detected, the UE 106 may be determined to benon-stationary, while if motion detected is below the motion threshold,the UE 106 may be determined to be stationary. Other (e.g.,intermediate) levels or states of motion may be defined if desired. Atleast in some instances, the motion detection may be performed by motionsensing circuitry of the UE. For example, the UE may include one or moreaccelerometers, gyroscopes, vibration sensors, and/or other motionsensing components, which may be capable of sensing motion magnitude andtype for various types of motion.

In 506, the UE may attempt to service the data request. Attempting toservice the data request may include attempting to obtain cellularconnectivity (e.g., attempting to establish a radio resource control(RRC) connection with a cellular network via a cell of the cellularnetwork), and if cellular connectivity is obtained, exchanging data viathe cellular network according to the data request.

As the data request may be a high level request to perform datacommunication, there may be a variety of possible aspects of fulfillingsuch a request that may be performed at various operational layers ofthe UE. For example, the data request may be received from anapplication layer of the UE by a non-access stratum (NAS) baseband layerof the UE, which may in turn trigger an RRC connection request (e.g., ifan RRC connection is not already currently active) by an access stratum(AS) baseband layer of the UE. In order to fulfill the RRC connectionrequest, an RRC layer of the UE (e.g., which may be part of the AS) mayattempt to register with a cellular network (e.g., via a cell of thecellular network, which may operate according to any of a variety ofradio access technologies or “RATs”, if not already registered), and/orif already registered, may attempt a random access procedure (RACH) withthe cellular network to establish an RRC connection for mobileoriginated (MO) data.

If any aspects of the attempt to service the data request areunsuccessful, at least in some instances one or more retries may beperformed. For example, if cell registration with a cell is initiallyunsuccessful, one or more further attempts to perform cell registrationmay be performed (e.g., using the same cell or a different cell). Asanother example, if the UE initially unsuccessfully attempts to RACH,the UE may follow up with one or more additional RACH attempts. Suchpersistence may in many instances eventually lead to connectivity beingobtained. However, in some instances it may be the case that service isunavailable at a particular time, or that a particular cell and/or RATis unavailable at a particular time, or that a particular cell is loaded(congested) at a particular time and has a high interference level thatresults in RACH failures, such that persistently attempting to obtainconnectivity indefinitely would serve little purpose and drain powerfrom the UE unnecessarily. Accordingly, in many instances a thresholdnumber of unsuccessful attempts of each of various types of operationsmay be set, which may trigger one or more types of failures, which mayhave one or more consequences, if reached.

For example, if a threshold number of unsuccessful RACH attempts isreached, this may result in an RRC connection request failure, may causebarring of the cell on which the threshold number of unsuccessful RACHattempts occurred, and/or may cause disabling of a RAT according towhich the cell operates, among various possibilities. If a thresholdnumber of RRC connection failures occur, this may result in failure ofthe data request itself. If a threshold number of data request (e.g.,including data request retries) failures occur, further data requestsmay be throttled (e.g., not accepted). Note that theconsequences/restrictions that may be enforced as a result ofunsuccessful connectivity related procedures/attempts may be temporary,and may be removed after a prescribed period of time and/or based onother considerations (e.g., changes in user activity level, motionlevel, etc.).

The aggressiveness or persistence of the UE's attempt(s) to obtaincellular connectivity and service the data request (and/or other datarequests) may depend on the determined current UE conditions. In otherwords, under some circumstances the UE may more aggressively attempt toobtain cellular connectivity, for example by increasing the thresholdnumbers which trigger failure events and/or restrictive consequences,and/or by reducing the effects and/or duration of the restrictiveconsequences of failure events, while under other circumstances the UEmay less aggressively attempt to obtain cellular connectivity, forexample by decreasing the threshold numbers which trigger failure eventsand/or restrictive consequences, and/or by increasing the effects and/orduration of the restrictive consequences of failure events. Such dynamicaggression modification may allow the UE to adaptively balance power andperformance considerations according to the current circumstances of theUE.

As an example of dynamically modifying the aggressiveness with which theUE attempts to obtain cellular connectivity, one or more connectivityattempt related parameters may be modified depending on the determinedcurrent UE conditions, such that one (e.g., more aggressive) set ofconnectivity related procedures/parameters/algorithms are followed underone set of conditions (e.g., higher battery level and/or user activitylevel) and another (e.g., less aggressive) set of connectivity relatedprocedures/parameters/algorithms are followed under another (e.g., lowerbattery level and/or user activity level) set of conditions, for up toas many defined sets of conditions as desired.

The connectivity related procedures/parameters/algorithms that maydiffer in different conditions may include any or all of a variety ofpossible connectivity related procedures, parameter, and/or algorithms,which may be used at any of various possible operation layers of the UE.

As one possibility, the parameters that define certain failureconditions at AS and/or NAS layers of the UE's baseband may be modifiedin different conditions. For example, the threshold number ofunsuccessful RACHs that causes a RRC connection request failure maydiffer depending on which conditions are currently present for the UE.As another example, the threshold number of RRC connection requestfailures that causes an application data request failure may differdepending on which conditions are currently present for the UE.

As another possibility, the threshold numbers of certain types offailures that cause connectivity related restrictions to be enforced maybe modified in different conditions. For example, a threshold number ofcell registration failures that causes disabling of use of one or moreRATs and/or that causes cell barring may differ depending on whichconditions are currently present for the UE. As another example, athreshold number of application data request failures that causesapplication data attempt throttling may differ depending on whichconditions are currently present for the UE.

As still another possibility, the severity of connectivity relatedrestrictions that may be enforced, if triggered, may be modified indifferent conditions. For example, a length of time for whichapplication data attempt throttling is enforced, if triggered, or alength of time for which use of one or more RATs is disabled, iftriggered, or a length of time for which cell barring occurs, iftriggered, may be modified in different conditions. As another example,a type of cell barring which occurs, if triggered, may be modified indifferent conditions.

Thus, a certain set of connectivity related procedures and parametersmay be selected for the UE according to the current UE conditions. Asone possibility, a first set of connectivity relatedprocedures/parameters may be selected if one or more predeterminedconditions are not present, while a second set of connectivity relatedprocedures/parameters may be selected if the one or more predeterminedconditions are present. The UE may proceed to attempt to service thedata request using the connectivity related procedures and parametersselected based on the conditions currently present at the UE.

FIG. 6—Exemplary RACH Procedure

FIG. 6 is a signal flow diagram illustrating an exemplary idle-mode RACHprocedure such as might be performed between a UE 106 and a network 100according to LTE. It should be noted while the exemplary detailsillustrated in and described with respect to FIG. 6 may berepresentative of one possible connected mode transition proceduretechnique, other techniques for transitioning from idle to connectedmode (e.g., according to other RATs) are also possible. Accordingly, thefeatures of FIG. 6 are not intended to be limiting to the disclosure asa whole: numerous variations and alternatives to the details providedherein below are possible and should be considered within the scope ofthe disclosure.

A RACH may be a contention-based procedure for acquiring synchronizationand establishing communication channels and/or radio links which provideaccess to more extensive network resources (e.g., data carrying channelsand/or greater uplink/downlink bandwidth). As previously noted, a UE mayattempt to RACH in order to obtain an RRC connection, which may in turnbe used to service an application data request, at least as onepossibility.

As shown, in 602 the UE 106 may transmit a first message to the network100. The first message (“Msg1”) may include a RACH preamble, including arandom access radio network temporary identifier (RA-RNTI).

In 604, the UE 106 may receive a second message from the network 100.The second message (“Msg2”, also referred to as “random access response”or “RAR”) may include a timing advance (TA) parameter, a temporary cellradio network temporary identifier (TC-RNTI), and an uplink grant fortransmitting a third message.

In 606, the UE 106 may transmit the third message to the network 100.The third message (“Msg3”, also referred to as “RRC connection request”)may include the TC-RNTI and a system architecture evolution temporarymobile subscriber identity (S-TMSI) to identify the UE 106 to thenetwork 100.

In 608, the UE 106 may receive a fourth message from the network 100.The fourth message (“Msg4” or “contention resolution message”) maypromote the TC-RNTI to a cell radio network temporary identifier(C-RNTI). The C-RNTI may be used for subsequent connected-mode RACHattempts, among various uses, as desired.

Upon completion of the four message sequence, the UE 106 may be in aconnected mode (e.g., RRC_connected) with the network 100, and mayperform network data exchange via its serving cell.

FIGS. 7-12—Exemplary Connection Attempt Procedure

FIGS. 7-12 illustrate various aspects of an exemplary connection attemptprocedure whose parameters may be dynamically modified to adjust theaggressiveness with which connectivity is pursued under differentconditions. FIGS. 7-12 and the information provided herein below inconjunction therewith are provided by way of example of variousconsiderations and details relating to possible systems with which themethod of FIG. 5 may be implemented, and are not intended to be limitingto the disclosure as a whole. Numerous variations and alternatives tothe details provided herein below are possible and should be consideredwithin the scope of the disclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example data flow relating to an application datarequest from an application processor (AP) 702 to a baseband processor(BB) 714 of a wireless device, according to some embodiments. As shown,one or more applications (e.g., APP1 704, APP2 706, APP 3 708, etc.) maybe executing on the AP 704. One or more of these apps may provide datarequests to a network stack 710 of the AP 702. The data request(s) maybe provided from the network stack 710 of the AP 702 to a data manager718 of the BB 714 by way of a hardware interface between the AP 702 andthe BB 714, which may include internet packet accelerator (IPA) hardware712 and IPA Q6 driver 716.

The data manager 718 may provide the data to the NAS 720 of the BB 714,which may determine if the device is camped and registered (724). If thewireless device is not camped and registered, an RRC registrationprocedure (such as illustrated in and described with respect to FIG. 8)may be performed.

If the wireless device is camped and registered, a new data servicerequest may be triggered (726). It may then be determined if a number offailed service requests is greater than a service request failurethreshold (“T1”) (728). If the number of failed service requests isgreater than the service request failure threshold, application data maybe throttled for a application data throttling threshold (“T2”) numberof seconds (730). Upon expiration of the application data throttlingthreshold number of seconds, the data manager 718 may be informed andapplication data throttling may no longer be in effect.

If the number of failed service requests is not greater than the servicerequest failure threshold, the number of service requests may beincremented (732), and an RRC procedure for a data request (such asillustrated in and described with respect to FIG. 9) may be performed.

In certain circumstances (e.g., during an RRC registration attempt, oras part of an out-of-service monitoring algorithm), the wireless devicemay determine that it is out-of-service (OOS). Some such possiblecircumstances are illustrated in and described with respect to FIGS. 8and 10. In such instances, any pending service request(s) may be abortedand OOS procedures may be initiated (722).

Additionally, under certain circumstances an RRC procedure for a datarequest may fail a sufficient number of times to trigger a data servicerequest failure. Some such possible circumstances are illustrated in anddescribed with respect to FIG. 9. In such instances, a new (e.g., retry)data service request may be triggered (726).

As noted herein above, FIGS. 8A-8B illustrate an example RRC procedurefor registration that may be performed by a wireless device, accordingto some embodiments. As shown, in 802, RAT selection may be performed.In 804, the wireless device may scan for cells (e.g., that operateaccording to the selected RAT) to potentially acquire.

In 806, it may be determined if a new cell has been found as a result ofscanning for cells. If no cells are found, the wireless device maydetermine that it is OOS, and may initiate NAS OOS procedures (such asillustrated in and described with respect to FIG. 7).

In 808, if a cell (or cells) is (are) found, it may be determined if thedevice is able to read the system information (e.g., SIBs) and if thecell passes certain criteria (e.g., s-criteria). If the device is unableto read the system information or the cell does not pass the criteria,the wireless device may scan further for cells to potentially acquire(804).

In 810, if the device is able to read the system information and if thecell passes the criteria, a new RRC connection request for registrationmay be initiated.

In 812, it may be determined if a number of consecutive failed RRCconnection attempts is less than a consecutive RRC connection attemptfailure threshold (“T3”).

In 814, if the number of consecutive failed RRC connection attempts isless than the RRC connection attempt failure threshold, the number offailed RRC connection attempts may be incremented (814), and a randomaccess procedure (RACH) on the cell may be initiated (816).

In 818, it may be determined if a number of failed RACH attempts on thecell is less than a registration RACH attempt failure threshold (“T4”).If the number of failed RACH attempts on the cell is not less than theregistration RACH attempt failure threshold, the RRC connection attemptmay be determined to have failed and a new RRC connection request forregistration may be initiated (810).

If the number of failed registration RACH attempts on the cell is lessthan the registration RACH attempt failure threshold, the number offailed registration RACH attempts may be incremented (820), and RACHpreamble(s) may be sent (822). It may be determined if the RACH issuccessful (824), and if so the wireless device may proceed with RRCconnection setup (826), following which the device may be in connectedmode and may transmit and/or receive data (828). If the RACH isunsuccessful, another (e.g., retry) RACH procedure may be initiated(816).

It at some point the number of consecutive failed RRC connectionattempts is not less than the consecutive RRC connection attempt failurethreshold, it may be determined if the total number of registration RRCconnection attempt failures on the cell is greater than a per-cell totalRRC connection attempt failure threshold (“T5”) and if the total numberof OOS occurrences on the cell is greater than a cell-specific OOSdeclaration threshold (“T6”) (830).

If the total number of registration RRC connection attempt failures onthe cell is greater than the per-cell total RRC connection attemptfailure threshold and if the total number of OOS occurrences on the cellis greater than the cell-specific OOS declaration threshold, a choicemay be made between barring the cell (“A1”), barring the frequency onwhich the cell is deployed (“A2”), or disabling the RAT according towhich the cell operates (“A3”) (832). A bar/disable timer (“T8”) may beinitiated (834); after expiration of the bar/disable timer, the barringor disabling may be lifted and the wireless device may proceed toinitiate NAS OOS procedures (such as illustrated in and described withrespect to FIG. 7). Likewise if the total number of registration RRCconnection attempt failures on the cell is not greater than the per-celltotal RRC connection attempt failure threshold or if the total number ofOOS occurrences on the cell is not greater than the cell-specific OOSdeclaration threshold, the wireless device may proceed to initiate NASOOS procedures.

As noted herein above, FIG. 9 illustrates an example RRC procedure for adata request, e.g., if the wireless device is already registered andcamped on a cell, according to some embodiments. The RRC procedure insuch a case may transition the wireless device from an RRC idle mode toan RRC connected mode, in which data exchange may occur.

As shown, in 902, a new RRC connection request for mobile originated(MO) data may be initiated. A new RACH procedure may be initiated (904),and it may be determined if a number of failed RACH attempts on the cellis less than a MO data RACH attempt failure threshold (“T7”) (906).

If the number of failed MO data RACH attempts on the cell is less thanthe MO data RACH attempt failure threshold, the number of failed MO dataRACH attempts may be incremented (908), and RACH preamble(s) may be sent(910). It may be determined if the RACH is successful (912), and if sothe wireless device may proceed with RRC connection setup (914),following which the device may be in connected mode and may transmitand/or receive data (916). If the RACH is unsuccessful, another (e.g.,retry) RACH procedure may be initiated (904).

If the number of failed MO data RACH attempts on the cell is not lessthan the MO data RACH attempt failure threshold, this may trigger a dataservice request failure and trigger a new (e.g., retry) data servicerequest, such as illustrated in and described with respect to FIG. 7.

As noted herein above, FIG. 10 illustrates an example OOS monitoringalgorithm for a cell, according to some embodiments. As shown, in 1002,the device may be in a camped state with respect to a cell. In 1004 itmay be determined if the device has lost service on the cell. If not,the device may remain the in the camped state. If the device has lostservice on the cell, the number of OOS occurrences detected for the cellmay be incremented (1006), and it may be determined if the total numberof registration RRC connection attempt failures on the cell is greaterthan the per-cell total RRC connection attempt failure threshold and ifthe total number of OOS occurrences on the cell is greater than thecell-specific OOS declaration threshold (1008).

If the total number of registration RRC connection attempt failures onthe cell is greater than the per-cell total RRC connection attemptfailure threshold and if the total number of OOS occurrences on the cellis greater than the cell-specific OOS declaration threshold, a choicemay be made between barring the cell, barring the frequency on which thecell is deployed, or disabling the RAT according to which the celloperates (1010). In this case, the bar/disable timer may be initiated(1012); after expiration of the bar/disable timer, the barring ordisabling may be lifted and the wireless device may proceed to initiateNAS OOS procedures (such as illustrated in and described with respect toFIG. 7). Likewise if the total number of registration RRC connectionattempt failures on the cell is not greater than the per-cell total RRCconnection attempt failure threshold or if the total number of OOSoccurrences on the cell is not greater than the cell-specific OOSdeclaration threshold, the wireless device may proceed to initiate NASOOS procedures.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example process for determining variousconnection attempt parameter values to use in conjunction with theexemplary procedures of FIGS. 7-10, according to some embodiments. Asshown, any or all of certain UE power characteristics, user activityindicators, and cell information relating to a current serving cell maybe provided as inputs to a dynamic aggression management thresholdselection algorithm. Based on the provided inputs, the algorithm maydetermine the values of the various parameters and/or thealgorithms/techniques used as part of various connection attemptprocedures such as to balance power and performance considerations.

As shown, the UE power characteristics that may be considered todetermine the various parameters and/or the algorithms/techniques usedas part of various connection attempt procedures may include any or allof a battery level of the UE, channel conditions experienced by the UE(e.g., which may affect transmit power requirements, and hence affectbattery levels), device thermal conditions, and/or uplinkinterference/network congestion experienced by the UE, among variouspossible UE power characteristics.

Similarly as shown, the user activity indicators that may be consideredto determine the various parameters and/or the algorithms/techniquesused as part of various connection attempt procedures may include any orall of whether a screen of the UE is on or off, whether the UE isstationary or moving, and/or whether foreground and/or backgroundapplication data is currently active, among various possible useractivity indicators.

As further shown, the cell information that may be considered todetermine the various parameters and/or the algorithms/techniques usedas part of various connection attempt procedures may include any or allof a public land mobile network of the cell, a cell identifier (cell ID)of the cell, and/or a radio access technology according to which thecell operates, among various possible types of cell information.

The threshold and/or timer parameters for which values may be selectedand the algorithms that may be selected according to the dynamicaggression management threshold selection algorithm may include any ofthe various thresholds and/or algorithms previously described withrespect to FIGS. 7-10, which are also illustrated and further describedwith respect to FIG. 12.

FIG. 12 is a table illustrating various possible threshold types andvalue ranges that may be used by a dynamic aggression managementthreshold selection algorithm such as illustrated in and described withrespect to FIG. 11 and in conjunction with any or all of the proceduresillustrated in and described with respect to FIGS. 7-10.

As shown, the thresholds may include “T1”, number of failed data servicerequests (e.g., 1≤T1≤5); “T2”, time to throttle data requests in seconds(e.g., 720 s≤T2≤1440 s); “T3”, number of failed consecutive RRCconnection attempts for registration purposes (e.g., attach, locationarea update (LAU), tracking area update (TAU), etc.) (e.g., 2≤T3≤6);“T4”, number of failed RACH preamble cycles or RACH attempts at MAClayer for one RRC connection request with cause=registration (e.g.,1≤T4≤12); “T5”, total number of RRC connection attempt failures seen percell (e.g., 12≤T5≤48); “T6”, number of times OOS declared per cell(e.g., 1≤T6≤4); “T7”, number of failed RACH preamble cycles or RACHattempts at MAC layer for one RRC connection request with cause=MO data(e.g., 1≤T7≤12); and “T8”, bar timer used based on the type of algorithmchosen (e.g., A1, A2, or A3) (e.g., 720 s≤T8≤1440 s).

As also shown, the algorithms may include “A1”, in which a cellidentified by its unique global cell ID is barred; “A2”, in which a cellfrequency identified by absolute radio frequency channel number (ARFCN,e.g., UMTS ARFCN or UARFCN for UMTS/evolved ARFCN or EARFCN for LTE) isbarred; and “A3”, in which the current radio access technology isdisabled.

FIGS. 13-14—Exemplary Cell Barring Techniques

As previously noted, RACHing may be a power consuming process for a UE,particularly in poor radio frequency (RF) conditions, as the UE mayutilize high transmit power in such circumstances, which may morequickly drain the battery of the UE. For example, in poor serviceconditions in which a UE “ping pongs” between out-of-service andin-service (attempting to register on any cell), the UE may end upfrequently and possibly continuously RACHing, potentially atincreasingly higher transmit power levels, for an extended period oftime, which may quickly drain the battery of the UE.

As also previously noted, in order to avoid such scenarios, at least insome instances a UE may implement a cell barring algorithm. According tosuch an algorithm, the number of RACH attempts for registering with acell and also the number of times the UE goes out-of-service on eachcell may be monitored, and upon reaching a certain threshold number ofregistration RACH attempts and/or out-of-service occurrences, a cell maybe barred for a certain period of time. Such cell barring may beperformed on a individual cell basis, as one possibility, or may beperformed on a cell frequency basis, as another possibility.

FIGS. 13-14 are tables illustrating how barring individual cells andbarring cell frequencies can functionally differ in an exemplaryscenario, according to some embodiments. FIGS. 13-14 and the informationprovided herein below in conjunction therewith are provided by way ofexample of various considerations and details relating to possiblesystems with which the method of FIG. 5 may be implemented, and are notintended to be limiting to the disclosure as a whole. Numerousvariations and alternatives to the details provided herein below arepossible and should be considered within the scope of the disclosure.

Barring cell frequencies may potentially occur more quickly (e.g., havea lower triggering threshold) and be more restrictive than barringindividual cells, for example when multiple cells are deployed on thesame frequency, at least in some instances. According to the exemplaryscenario of FIGS. 13-14, a UE may discover nine UMTS cells at aparticular time, including four cells on frequency 4360 in band V, threecells on frequency 4385 in band V, and two cells on frequency 612 inband II. Each such cell may be distinguished by a primary scramblingcode (PSC), which may function as a local identifier for the cell.

As shown in FIG. 13, if cell barring is implemented on an individualcell basis, each of the nine cells must individually meet the RRCfailure and OOS failure thresholds to be barred, and if such thresholdsare met by one of the nine cells, that cell may individually be barredwith no effect on the other cells deployed on the same frequency.

In contrast, as shown in FIG. 14, if cell barring is implemented on ancell frequency basis, all of the cells deployed on a given frequency maycontribute to the RRC failure and OOS failure thresholds for thefrequency on which they are deployed, and if such thresholds are met fora particular cell frequency, all of the cells deployed on that frequencymay be barred.

Barring cells individually may provide less power conservation thanbarring cell frequencies, at least in some instances. For example, in alocation with multiple cells, such as in the scenario of FIGS. 13-14,since the UE may screen every available cell individually, by the timethe UE has screened the last available cell, the bar timer for firstcell that was barred may expire and the first cell may be unbarred. Thismay repeat such that the UE may continue to cycle through the cellsindefinitely and may not obtain any power conservation benefits fromsuch cell barring. If, in contrast, a particular cell frequency (UTRAAbsolute Radio Frequency Channel Number or UARFCN) is barred, all thecells that belong to that particular UARFCN may be barred, which mayreduce the number of RRC Attempts and help save more power as comparedto individual cell barring, at least in some scenarios.

Thus, cell barring on an individual cell basis and cell frequencybarring may provide different levels of tolerance for cell registrationRACH failures. Depending on a desired level of aggressiveness with whichconnectivity is to be pursued, each may be appropriate at certain times.For example, as one possibility, under conditions when connectivity ismore aggressively pursued (such as when user activity and/or batterylevels are high), cell barring may be implemented on an individual cellbasis (e.g., to improve the chances of obtaining connectivity), whileunder conditions when connectivity is less aggressively pursued (such aswhen user activity and/or battery levels are low), cell barring may beimplemented on a cell frequency basis (e.g., to reduce powerconsumption).

In addition or as alternatives to selecting whether to perform cellbarring on an individual cell or cell frequency basis, as previouslynoted with respect to FIG. 5, any number of connectivity relatedprocedures and/or parameters may be modified as part of dynamicallymodifying aggressiveness. The following are further specific examples ofpossible modifications to connectivity related procedures and/orparameters that may be dynamically implemented depending on current UEconditions, which are not intended to be limiting to the disclosure as awhole. Numerous variations and alternatives to the details providedherein below are possible and should be considered within the scope ofthe disclosure.

As one possibility, under a first set of conditions (e.g., in a ‘normalpower mode’) five LTE registration failures (e.g., any of tracking areaupdate, attach, location area update, or inter-RAT procedures) maytrigger disabling of LTE for a UE for 12 minutes. Under a second set ofconditions (e.g., in a ‘low power mode’), three LTE registrationfailures may trigger disabling of LTE for the UE for 15 minutes.

As another possibility, in the normal power mode a UMTS (WCDMA orTD-SCDMA) cell may be barred (on an individual basis) for 12 minutes if96 RRC connection failures or 2 iRAT failures or service lost on thecell plus 24 RRC connection failures occur if the UE is stationary andthe UE screen is off. In the low power mode, a UMTS frequency may bebarred for 12 minutes if 24 RRC connection failures or 1 iRAT failure orservice lost on the cell plus 12 RRC connection failures occur to anycell or combination of cells on the frequency.

As still another possibility, one or more RACH related thresholds may becut in half in low power mode relative to normal power mode for RRCconnection requests or cell update requests. The RACH related thresholdsmay include N300, N302, MMAX, and/or any of various thresholds. Forexample, the RACH failure threshold for RRC connection request failuremay be reduced from 20 RACH failures in the normal power mode to 10 RACHfailures in the low power mode. As another possibility, the RRCconnection requests failure threshold for application data requestfailure may be reduced from 6 RRC connection request failures in thenormal power mode to 3 RRC connection request failures in the low powermode.

As a still further possibility, in the normal power mode, 5 mobileoriginated (e.g., background) application data/service request failuresmay trigger throttling of further application data attempts for 15minutes in stationary conditions. In the low power mode, 3 applicationdata/service request failures may trigger throttling of furtherapplication data attempts for 20 minutes in stationary orsemi-stationary conditions.

In the following further exemplary embodiments are provided.

One set of embodiments may include a method, comprising: by a wirelessuser equipment (UE) device: monitoring whether one or more predeterminedconditions are present; attempting to establish a cellular connectionaccording to a first set of connectivity related procedures if the oneor more predetermined conditions are not present; and attempting toestablish a cellular connection according to a second set ofconnectivity related procedures if the one or more predeterminedconditions are present, wherein one or more connectivity relatedparameters differ between the first set of connectivity relatedprocedures and the second set of connectivity related procedures.

According to some embodiments, cell registration failures trigger cellbarring if the one or more predetermined conditions are not present,wherein cell registration failures trigger frequency barring if the oneor more predetermined conditions are present.

According to some embodiments, a first predetermined number of cellregistration failures according to a radio access technology (RAT)triggers disabling of the RAT for a first predetermined amount of timeif the one or more predetermined conditions are not present, wherein asecond predetermined number of cell registration failures according tothe RAT triggers disabling of the RAT for a second predetermined amountof time if the one or more predetermined conditions are present.

According to some embodiments, a first predetermined number of servicerequest failures triggers throttling of application data attempts for afirst predetermined amount of time if the one or more predeterminedconditions are not present, wherein a second predetermined number ofservice request failures triggers throttling of application dataattempts for a second predetermined amount of time if the one or morepredetermined conditions are present.

According to some embodiments, one or more service request failurerelated thresholds differ between the first set of connectivity relatedprocedures and the second set of connectivity related procedures.

According to some embodiments, the one or more predetermined conditionscomprise one or more of: a battery level of the UE being below a batterylevel threshold; a user activity level of the UE being below a useractivity threshold; or a motion level of the UE being below a motionlevel threshold.

According to some embodiments, the first set of connectivity relatedprocedures correspond to more aggressive pursuit of cellularconnectivity than the second set of connectivity related procedures.

A further set of embodiments may include a wireless user equipment (UE)device, comprising: a radio; and a processing element operably coupledto the radio; wherein the radio and the processing element areconfigured to: receive an application data request from an applicationlayer of the UE; and attempt to establish a cellular connection toservice the application data request according to a plurality ofconnection attempt parameters, wherein at least one of the connectionattempt parameters are modified under one or more predeterminedconditions, wherein the one or more predetermined conditions comprise atleast a battery level of the UE being below a battery level threshold,wherein connection attempt parameters modified under the one or morepredetermined conditions comprise one or more of: whether to bar cellfrequencies or individual cells based on cell registration failures forcells of one or more radio access technologies (RATs); a cellregistration failure threshold for disabling use of one or more RATsand/or a length of time for disabling use of the one or more RATs if thecell registration failure threshold is met; application data requestthrottling threshold and/or length parameters; or one or moreapplication data request failure threshold parameters.

According to some embodiments, the one or more predetermined conditionsfurther comprise a user activity level of the UE being below a useractivity threshold.

According to some embodiments, the one or more predetermined conditionsfurther comprise a motion level of UE being below a motion threshold.

According to some embodiments, the at least one of the connectionattempt parameters are modified to cause the UE to less aggressivelypursue cellular connectivity under the one or more predeterminedconditions.

A still further set of embodiments may include a non-transitory computeraccessible memory medium, comprising program instructions which, whenexecuted at a wireless user equipment (UE) device, cause the UE deviceto: determine one or more conditions currently present for the UE,wherein the one or more conditions comprise at least a battery levelcondition of the UE; select whether to implement cell barring on anindividual cell basis or a cell frequency basis based at least in parton the one or more conditions determined to be currently present for theUE; and perform cell barring according to the selection of whether toimplement cell barring on an individual cell basis or a cell frequencybasis.

According to some embodiments, cell barring is implemented for UMTScells.

According to some embodiments, when executed, the program instructionsfurther cause the UE device to: select to implement cell barring on anindividual cell basis under a first set of conditions in which thebattery level condition of the UE is above a battery level threshold;and select to implement cell barring on a cell frequency basis under asecond set of conditions in which the battery level condition of the UEis below the battery level threshold.

According to some embodiments, when executed, the program instructionsfurther cause the UE device to: select an LTE cell registration failurethreshold for disabling LTE based at least in part on the one or moreconditions determined to be currently present for the UE; monitor LTEcell registration failures; and disable LTE for a predetermined periodof time if the selected LTE cell registration failure threshold is met.

According to some embodiments, the predetermined period of time forwhich LTE is disabled is also selected based at least in part on the oneor more conditions determined to be currently present for the UE.

According to some embodiments, when executed, the program instructionsfurther cause the UE device to: select a service request failurethreshold for throttling application data attempts based at least inpart on the one or more conditions determined to be currently presentfor the UE; monitor service request failures; and throttle applicationdata attempts for a predetermined period of time if the selected servicerequest failure threshold is met.

According to some embodiments, the predetermined period of time forwhich application data attempts are throttled is also selected based atleast in part on the one or more conditions determined to be currentlypresent for the UE.

According to some embodiments, when executed, the program instructionsfurther cause the UE device to: select random access procedure (RACH)related thresholds for radio resource control (RRC) connection requestor cell update procedures based at least in part on the one or moreconditions determined to be currently present for the UE.

According to some embodiments, the one or more conditions furthercomprise a user activity level of the UE and a motion level of the UE.

An additional exemplary embodiment may include a wireless user equipment(UE) device, comprising: a radio; and an processing element operablycoupled to the radio; wherein the UE is configured to implement any orall parts of any of the preceding examples.

A further exemplary set of embodiments may include a non-transitorycomputer accessible memory medium comprising program instructions which,when executed at a device, cause the device to implement any or allparts of any of the preceding examples.

A still further exemplary set of embodiments may include a computerprogram comprising instructions for performing any or all parts of anyof the preceding examples.

Yet another exemplary set of embodiments may include an apparatuscomprising means for performing any or all of the elements of any of thepreceding examples.

Embodiments of the present disclosure may be realized in any of variousforms. For example some embodiments may be realized as acomputer-implemented method, a computer-readable memory medium, or acomputer system. Other embodiments may be realized using one or morecustom-designed hardware devices such as ASICs. Still other embodimentsmay be realized using one or more programmable hardware elements such asFPGAs.

In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable memory mediummay be configured so that it stores program instructions and/or data,where the program instructions, if executed by a computer system, causethe computer system to perform a method, e.g., any of a methodembodiments described herein, or, any combination of the methodembodiments described herein, or, any subset of any of the methodembodiments described herein, or, any combination of such subsets.

In some embodiments, a device (e.g., a UE 106) may be configured toinclude a processor (or a set of processors) and a memory medium, wherethe memory medium stores program instructions, where the processor isconfigured to read and execute the program instructions from the memorymedium, where the program instructions are executable to implement anyof the various method embodiments described herein (or, any combinationof the method embodiments described herein, or, any subset of any of themethod embodiments described herein, or, any combination of suchsubsets). The device may be realized in any of various forms.

Although the embodiments above have been described in considerabledetail, numerous variations and modifications will become apparent tothose skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated.It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to embrace allsuch variations and modifications.

What is claimed is:
 1. A wireless user equipment device (UE),comprising: a radio; and a processing element operably coupled to theradio; wherein the radio and the processing element are configured to:receive an application data request from an application layer of the UE;and attempt to establish a cellular connection to service theapplication data request according to a plurality of connection attemptparameters, wherein at least one of the connection attempt parametersare modified under one or more predetermined conditions, wherein the oneor more predetermined conditions comprise at least a user activity levelof the UE being below a user activity level threshold, wherein the useractivity level of the UE is below the user activity level threshold if adisplay of the UE is off or if no foreground applications are running onthe UE, wherein connection attempt parameters modified under the one ormore predetermined conditions comprise one or more of: whether to barcell frequencies or individual cells based on cell registration failuresfor cells of one or more radio access technologies (RATs); a cellregistration failure threshold for disabling use of one or more RATsand/or a length of time for disabling use of the one or more RATs if thecell registration failure threshold is met; application data requestthrottling threshold and/or length parameters; or one or moreapplication data request failure threshold parameters.
 2. The UE ofclaim 1, wherein said modification of at least one of the connectionattempt parameters is based at least in part on one or more powercharacteristics of the UE.
 3. The UE of claim 1, wherein the one or morepredetermined conditions further comprise a motion level of UE beingbelow a motion threshold.
 4. The UE of claim 1, wherein the at least oneof the connection attempt parameters are modified to cause the UE toimplement cell barring in a manner to reduce power consumption.
 5. TheUE of claim 1, wherein the at least one of the connection attemptparameters are modified so that when the user activity level of the UEis below the user activity level threshold, cell barring is performed ona cell frequency basis.
 6. The UE of claim 1, wherein cell barring isimplemented differently for different radio access technologies (RATs).7. An apparatus for implementation in a wireless user equipment (UE)device, comprising: one or more processors configured to cause the UEto: determine one or more conditions currently present for the UE,wherein the one or more conditions include a user activity level of theUE, wherein the user activity level of the UE is associated with ascreen status and/or foreground activity; determine a modifiedconnection attempt parameter, wherein the modified connection attemptparameter is modified based on the one or more conditions, wherein themodified connection attempt parameter is modified to cause the UE toless aggressively pursue cellular connectivity under the one or moreconditions, wherein the modified connection attempt parameter comprisesone or more of: whether to bar cell frequencies or individual cellsbased on cell registration failures for cells of one or more radioaccess technologies (RATs); a cell registration failure threshold fordisabling use of one or more RATs and/or a length of time for disablinguse of the one or more RATs if the cell registration failure thresholdis met; application data request throttling threshold and/or lengthparameters; or one or more application data request failure thresholdparameters; and attempt to establish a cellular connection according tothe modified connection attempt parameter.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7,wherein cell barring is implemented for Universal MobileTelecommunications Service cells.
 9. The apparatus of claim 7, whereinto less aggressively pursue cellular connectivity includes implementingcell barring in a manner to reduce power consumption.
 10. The apparatusof claim 7, wherein, to less aggressively pursue cellular connectivity,the one or more processors are further configured to cause the UE to:select an LTE cell registration failure threshold for disabling LTEbased at least in part on the one or more conditions; monitor LTE cellregistration failures; and disable LTE for a predetermined period oftime if the selected LTE cell registration failure threshold is met. 11.The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the predetermined period of time forwhich LTE is disabled is also selected based at least in part on the oneor more conditions.
 12. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein, to lessaggressively pursue cellular connectivity, the one or more processorsare further configured to cause the UE to: select a service requestfailure threshold for throttling application data attempts based atleast in part on the one or more conditions; monitor service requestfailures; and throttle application data attempts for a predeterminedperiod of time if the selected service request failure threshold is met.13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the predetermined period of timefor which application data attempts are throttled is also selected basedat least in part on the one or more conditions.
 14. The apparatus ofclaim 7, wherein, to less aggressively pursue cellular connectivity, theone or more processors are further configured to cause the UE to: selectrandom access procedure (RACH) related thresholds for radio resourcecontrol (RRC) connection request or cell update procedures based atleast in part on the one or more conditions.
 15. The apparatus of claim7, wherein the one or more conditions further include a battery level ofthe UE.
 16. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the one or more conditionsfurther include a motion level of the UE.
 17. A method, comprising: by awireless user equipment (UE) device: determining one or more conditionscurrently present for the UE, wherein the one or more conditionscomprise a user activity level based on a display status or a foregroundactivity level of the UE; and attempting to establish a cellularconnection using at least one parameter selected based on the one ormore conditions determined to be currently present for the UE, whereinthe at least one parameter includes one or more of: whether to bar cellfrequencies or individual cells based on cell registration failures forcells of one or more radio access technologies (RATs); a cellregistration failure threshold for disabling use of one or more RATsand/or a length of time for disabling use of the one or more RATs if thecell registration failure threshold is met; application data requestthrottling threshold and/or length parameters; or one or moreapplication data request failure threshold parameters.
 18. The method ofclaim 17, wherein the one or more conditions further comprise a motionlevel of the UE, wherein the at least one parameter includes a type ofbarring, wherein the type of barring is selected to, when barring istriggered: implement barring on an individual cell basis under a firstset of conditions in which the motion level is above a motion levelthreshold; and implement barring on a frequency basis under a second setof conditions in which the motion level is below the motion levelthreshold.
 19. The method of claim 17, wherein the cell registrationfailure threshold is specific to a first radio access technology andcorresponds to a type of barring wherein the first radio accesstechnology is barred when the cell registration failure threshold isreached.
 20. The method of claim 19, wherein a barring period isspecific to the first radio access technology.